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Q: How can I get a rural job?
I realize that the rural people of China are poor and can't afford a foreign teacher as easily.
But heck, they have Chinese English teachers in the sticks, don't they?
If they can pay Chinese English teachers, why can't they pay a foreign English teacher who is willing to work for the same amount of money.
20% of the people in the world live in China.
80% of the people in China live far away from the overpopulated seacoast.
That means that I have been unable to find a job in 16% of the world.
Surely there must be some place where I can be safe from noise and pollution.
Surely there must be some place where I can be safe from strangers grabbing me and saying "Can I help you" every time I try to practice Chinese.
Surely there must be some place where I can be safe from losing my job the minute the employer finds a teacher half my age.
In my experience, many places in the middle of nowhere would be very excited to hire a foreign teacher. The best idea would be to choose a province you like, travel to a few out-of-the-way towns, and approach some middle schools, high schools or universities in person (avoid private English schools).
A few obstacles to consider:
As far as I know, schools aren't supposed to hire anyone over 60. If you're over 60, that will be a serious obstacle to working in a reputable school (some private schools will be happy to exploit your difficult visa situation, but this will end badly).
The other problem is that in an out-of-the-way location, your employer may not be familiar with getting work visas for foreign teachers. This is a fairly involved process, and you should never start teaching on the promise of a work visa.
About being safe from harassment: the less common foreigners are in an area, the more intrusive the behaviour of locals will be.
Problem is your visa. Even if you're willing to take the same salary they pay Chinese teachers, the school has to pay more money to employ you. They first of all need to apply to be able to employ foreigners which they won't be given due to the poor living conditions in rural China and the fact the government doesn't want foreigners experiencing those conditions. The fact that you're asking this question shows how little you know about China. The countryside is not all green and beautiful and just a little bit poor, some schools require students to bring their own tables because they're super poor.
You should try a school in a lower tiered city where they might have a chance of legally employing a foreigner. I'm pretty sure the poor rural schools won't be willing to pay out all the money and put in all the time and effort needed to go through the red tape to employ you. Even if they were willing, the government wouldn't approve them.
This has been my experience: it's almost impossible. Most schools have "too many" English teachers (Chinese people teaching English), and they're not about to give up their jobs so that foreigners can take them. They'll do everything in their power to stop it from happening.
In the countryside, you will NOT be safe from noise or pollution. Ever been to rural areas? Utterly filthy, and many of them have factories/plants. There's also no oversight, and not much exposure to the media, so if someone pisses off the gubb'mint, they'll be ran over by a truck instead of getting justice.
The noise is even worse than the cities sometimes. As for your age, well... can't help you there.
GuilinRaf:
To be honest, I have found the countryside to be utterly disgusting.
The ones near the cities are not too bad, but the ones further away are truly horrible.
The worst ones were in Gansu province.
My advice to you is to actually stay in one of these remote, not touristy places for a couple of weeks before you decide to sign a contract.
You wont have pollution per se, but you will be surrounded by filth.
No one will ask if they can help you, they will assume that you cannot do anything on your own.
You wont have a second of privacy, people will be poking into your business all day and all night.
Wintertime may be quite miserable as you wont have any heat.
Hulk:
This. I forgot to mention the heating aspect. I've slept through some pretty brutal winters WITHOUT heat! Only a small blanket that I had to hide underneath. I woke up drenched in sweat, and still cold. It's not for the faint of heart.
The countryside is utterly disgusting, as GuilinRaf stated. I've been to more countrysides than I can count. The people are friendly, and I always get my privacy, and nobody actually bugs me (it may vary) because my wife does all the talking for me.
shouldnt be too hard mate i know plenty of people who have done this, mostly doing volunteer work on a gap year, with accomodation and food provided. the head of the school should be able to find out more about the visa regulations, its much easier to sort out visas out there without any dodgyness
Come to Dalian, Liaoning ASAP, not 'rural' city whatsoever. I can direct you to Schools with around 30 teaching hours per week available. Full or part - time. I am leaving Dalian by the end of this month.
